Books, Inspiration,

Month: August 2014

When 27 Miracles Rosie Moore met Former Magic Player Darrell Armstrong, they immediately connected through both their passions and that is to help premature babies and their parents. As they sat together sharing stories about why each of them got involved in helping, it was clear they shared the same mission. Darrell had a premature baby of his own so he understood what Rosie Moore meant when she said she was passionate about helping parents.. “In 1999, following the premature birth of his youngest daughter, Darrell Armstrong founded the Darrell Armstrong Foundation for Premature Babies, Inc. Darrell knew his baby daughter would need special care and was thankful that he had the financial means to provide whatever she needed. He realized that many of the parents of the other critically ill children did not have the resources to provide the special treatments and equipment their premature children might need. It became Darrell’s mission to help provide those resources.”

Darrell is currently the Assistant Coach for the Dallas Mavericks and will be in Orlando for The Gift of Life. Darrell started his own foundation company called the Darrell Armstrong Foundation . Their mission: ” The Darrell Armstrong Foundation for Premature Babies, Inc.’s mission is to assist families of premature babies in their efforts to raise healthy children, so they may recognize the gift of love that God has given them.”

As the world mourns the death of Robin Williams a man who made everyone smile and laugh, I can’t help but remember the first time I saw Robin Williams on TV. The first time I saw him was in the episodes of Mork and Mindy, it was one of my favorites to watch. But then seeing him in Mrs Doubtfire was hilarious. Who would have thought unless you were that close to him that he was suffering from such a deep depression that he would take his own life. A man who was wealthy, had fame and family, but the one thing he was missing was happiness despite all that was surrounding him. Depression is an illness that if left untreated, as you see here and in many other celebrities can be deadly. But you also see it amongst the average person.

Today I want to reach out to every one of my readers. I want to tell you about why The Gift of Life is so important and really touches many. As you know I had a premature baby, the least thing that I wanted to do was to talk or see anyone. I wanted to bury my head under the covers and blame God and everything that caused me stress thinking that is why my baby was born early. But it was thanks to prayers from a friend that I met at a previous job and her persistence in tracking me down that I managed to get a hold of myself. She messaged everyone, on my then small friends list, until she reached my sister-in-law in NJ. She sent her a message to have me call her( I was not taking any calls or messages). I was depressed. But this friend’s message to me was, not hi how are you, what can I do for you, are you okay? No her message was firm, direct and powerful. She said, ” you will first of all not ignore my calls, you will take pictures daily of that baby, you will have faith and not lose hope and when you do, you will look back at the pictures to see where your baby was and how he progressed.” Those words stayed with me, forever.

You may be saying why am I sharing this story with you, simply put because I was there. I know what these moms and dads feel after having a premature baby. They are scared, they are stressed over the baby’s health, they have bills to pay, they are thinking and wondering how are they ever going to pay their bill of probably over 2 million plus dollars ( if they have insurance and it does not max out, it will help some), some have other children at home to care for, some have jobs and one or the other quits the job or worse gets terminated. They get terminated all because the employer does not understand that medical appts and time with that baby are crucial to his or her survival, so they end up getting forced out of a job due to medical appts and some even face divorce and separation from so much stress. What happens, some go into unresolved depression and some thankfully get treatment but some may not.

As you read about Robin Williams, someone who has money and abilities to seek the care of any doctors and medications and he was not able to . Somewhere before he went through it, it was missed. This is why The Gift of Life is trying to raise resources to help the NICU( Neonatal Intesnive care Unit) we are not psychologists or mental health workers, but a simple hug, a simple word of I care, I understand, you can lean on me when you need to, will go a long way when you are feeling the pain of depression. Naturally if medical intervention is needed, that is the ultimate recommendation.

Help us help the Gift of Life so that parents can have a resource to turn to, don’t wait until it affects you or a friend, act now as a random act of kindness get involved.

If you can’t attend the event on September 13, 2014 at the Rosen Centre at 5pm, you can get involved in other ways.

Purchase a Bear hand-made by Make It Mine Personalized Embroidery. When we asked Maria and Kristin why did they want to get involved in The Gift of Life, simply stated , “We want to help the Gift of Life because we believe in the work being done to help NICU babies and would like to be a part of that work.”

They are a local mother-daughter team. They make personalized embroidered gifts for the whole family — from babies to adults, including bridal items.

This is the thermal I am selling to give to our our moms in the NICU( Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to bring milk to the babies. or the new sinch sac which is good to put in toiletries for moms staying in the Ronald Mc Donald House or Diapers and baby supplies….Order one for 20.00 for a mom in the NICU and we wil deliver it and take it their after the event with a card and YOUR name as the donor!https://www.facebook.com/groups/650713148346893/

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn unite with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to declare that September 13 2014 is the official Gift of Life Day !

On September 13 2014, The Rosen Centre will be receiving guests for The Gift of Life. The event will have entertainment by local celebrities, guest speakers, dinner, silent and live auctions and dancing. You will get to walk on the Red Carpet and have your picture taken while you can also have a picture drawn by a world famous caricature artist!

Proceeds will benefit the Florida Hospital of Children Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and teh making of the movie A Story of Faith which will provide resources as well for parents of premature babies.

The Mayor’s Proclamation:

Whereas, premature births have been increasingly steady, progressively and alarmingly over the past two decades; and

Whereas, many premature babies are born too small and face the risk of getting sick easily; and

Whereas, even though doctors have made excellent advances in caring for babies born too small and too soon, there is a long way to go in order to prevent preterm birth from happening in the first place; and

Whereas, 27Miracles is an organization that is presenting the Gift of Life, a fundraiser event inspired by Rosie Moore’s own story, who had a premature baby that was born 13 weeks early; and

Darling Castaneda, is the creator of Darling Brand Studio. She is a Strategic Brand Visionary that encourages individuals to discover their dream and then helps them build it. She works on developing brands through groundbreaking strategy and visually building them through web and graphic design.

When Darling heard about The Gift of Life Event on September 13, 2014, it hit home for her. We asked Darling why she felt that this hit home for her and she replied…..

“I am so invested into the cause that A Story of Faith caters to because it truly hit home. When I was pregnant with my daughter, Genesis, I was recommended by doctor’s to go through an early termination because, according to them, she wasn’t going to make it to birth. They said that if she was even lucky enough to make it to her due date, that shouldn’t live more than a day. I decided NOT to make that decision; if my daughter was meant to leave me then she would leave on her own terms not because I decided. Genesis was born and stayed in the NICU for 3 months and 2 major surgeries including a left nephrectomy. My daughter is 5 years old and a FIGHTER. I believe in what A Story of Faith stands for because I lived it. It’s a story that hits home every single time.” www.darlingbrandstudio.com

If you have not purchased your tickets as of yet click here to purchase